Combined auto doorlock and dovetail



June 14, 1932. w. J. SEELINGER 1,863,032

COMBINED AUTO DOORLOCK AND DOVETAIL 4 Filed April 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

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PatentedJune 14, 1932 res UNITED STA WILLIAM J. SEELINGER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN comma]: AUTO DOOBLIOCK AND DOVETAIL Application filed April 16,

This invention relates to automobile door latches and the like where it is very essential to both wedge the door tightly when in its closed position to relieve strain on the. hinges,

and to avoid relative movements resulting in rattiing and other noises, and which must be very securely latched in closed position.

The essential object of the invention, is to provide a very simple effective combined wedgingand latching means for such dooda which may be cheaply manufactured, easily,

installed, and which may be operated in precisely the usual manner, namely, the latch may be operated by a door handle outside the 1!, door and a handle inside the door, which for convenience is usually placed at a position remote from the lock itself, that is to say, from the shank of the outside door handle.

A more specific object is to arrange a combined wedging and locking means such that the wedging efiect may be resilient and not subject to wear and yet exert very great resistance to any tendency of vertical movement'between the door and door jamb.

Another object is to so construct'and arrange the parts as to be capable of a very great amount of wear and of easy and convenient replacement.

A further object is to construct the parts of this combined dovetail and latch-means sdthatthey may be assembled with the least possible change or alteration of the usual and standard forms of doors and door jambs used in automobile body onstruction.

The above and 'ot er objects will become apparent in the following description which refers to the accompanying drawings, the essential characteristics being summarized in the appended claims.

In the drawings-- M .Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the door showing the latching and handle operating elements-in position. 1 c

Fig. 2 is a transverse horizontal section through the latch and operating means when dis osed in latching position. v

ig. 3 is a sectional view of the door ortion of the latching means, taken on a p ane indicated by the hne 33- of Fig. 2.

1931. Serial 110. 530,487.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View through the wedging and latch receiving means on the door jamb or frame.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing the operation of latch by the inside or remote control mcans, a d is taken in a plane indicated by the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings by the use of numerals designating like parts in the various views, 10 indicates the usual door and 12 the door frame. The door has a suitable vertical door post or frame member14 having a wedge or sloping front face as is customary and which is cut away to receive the latch housing member 15. The latch housing member 05 comprises a' plate member, shown as secured by screws 16 to the post 14, and having a raised middle portion whiclf forms a hollow wedge shaped .element 17. The upper and lower walls of this wedge shaped element are preferably formed on the same plate but may -be formed from a separate plate, while an inner plate on the door forms the backing portion of this combined housing and wedge element.

Through the lower wall of the wedge portion 17 I provide an opening 18 through which projects the latch dog 19 of the latch bolt 20. This so-called latch bolt is shown in the form of a pivoted dog/the pivot 21 comprising a suitable pin passing through the front and rear walls of the housing formed by the wedge portion 17. The forward portion of the pivoted dog is prefer-- ably provided with a surface or shoulder against which acts one arm 22 of a latch actuator 23 non-rotatably secured to the shank 24 of the usual handle 25. A spr ng 27 suitably positioned by a, depression iii the top of the latch bolt 20 is provided, the other end of 99 the spring being positioned either by depression or projection inthe wedge member 17, as indicated at 28. Thus, the spring, which is practically a compression spring, 9 acts to press the latch dog downwardly but 7 permits it to rise yieldably during the latching operation, as will later appear. It is to be" understood that the spring action forcing '1 the latch bolt downwardly may beeffected 10o by the use of a fiat spring or springs of any suitable character.

On the door frame 12 I prefer to mount a suitable pair of housings 30, which may be rigidly secured or formed on a suitable plate 31 held by screws or otherwise. The coacting wedge elements preferably comprise metal blocks 33 slidably held in the housings and positioned by overhanging shoulders formed on the housing and on the blocks, as indicated at 34 and 35' respectively. For pressing the blocks 33 relatively toward each other, I employ any suitable resilient means, preferably solid blocks of rubber, indicated at 38, which are held in position in the housings under comparatively heavy compression urging the blocks relatively together.

enerally, are sloped to correspond to the slope of the Wedge shaped housing 17 and they are normally positioned to tightly grip this housing as the door is brought to the closed position. The latching position is indicated in broken lines in Fig. 4, in which position the latch 19 is in engagement with the innermost shoulder 37 on the lower block 33. For a double,

latching effect, I may provide the additional notch, as at 41, and for convenience in manufacture I may make both the blocks 33 alike, whereby they may be entirely interchangeable, although obviously the upper latch normally functions only as a coacting movable wedge gripping element.

It will be seen that to open the door with the latch, it is only necessary to lift the latch bolt 20 with its projection 19 by moving the arm 22 upwardly upon the turning of the shank 24 or carrier of the arm.

As stated, the opening may be accomplished by'the usual remote or inside handle. This may be of the usual or any suitable construction, the handle being indicated at and shown as passing through the inner panel of the door to a crank or link element 51 secured to a link 52, which in turn is pivotally connected, as at 53, with a second arm 54 of the element 23. Actuation of the handle to move the link 52 longitudinally may effect the raising and lowering of the arm 22. Consequently proper actuation of the handle 50 in one direction may cause the raising of the latch bolt, thereupon unlatching of the door.

Key locking arrangements of, any suitable description may be applied to the lock through the hande bolt element or otherwise, as is customary in such devices, it being only necessary to prevent the rotation of the bolt to provide an effective locking of this latch.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have prov ded a latch cap-able of being attached to automobile doors or like doors, and which when the door is closed combines a wedging action which replaces the the inner faces of the blocks 33 usual so-called dovetail support commonly used between the doorand door casing for preventing relative vertical movement between these parts. I have also secured a very powerful and yet resilient gripping action between the elements on the door casing andthe elements on the door, and yet a gripping action which is consistent with the easy opening and closing of the door. It wlll be seen that the/resilient elements have little or no wear and yet these, with the wedge elements 33, may be readily manufactured and easily replaced.

The standardized door handles and shanks and inside handles and so-called remote control for latches need only a minimum amount of change or substitution for use with my door latching devices.

It is to be understood that various modifications and alterations may be made within the scope of my invention and without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. A supporting and locking means for a door frame member and a door member hinged thereto for swinging toward and away from the frame, comprising coacting Wedging elements on said members, a shoulder on one of said elements, a coacting latch mounted in and movable relative to the other of said elements and engageable with said shoulder when the wedging elements are in contact, a manually operated latch moving element, a handle on the outside of sai door having a shank engaging said latch moving element, a

its

second handle on the inside of said door being 4 a shank, a link connection between the last mentioned shank and the latch moving element. I

2. In a door latch and support, the combination of a face plate member having a recess extending transversely thereof, slidable blocks having surfaces sloping transversely and carried by the face plate and forming keeper members, a hollow wedge member adapted to slidably fit between said tapering surfaces and move them apart when the door is in closed position, a latch element within said wedge element and having aprojection extending through one wall thereof, a shoulder on. one of the slidable blocks, a spring pressing said latch in a direction to thrust its projection outwardly with relation to the wedge, a handle and connections between the handle and the latch for withdrawing the projection within the wedge member.

3. In a latching and supporting mechanism foigdoors and the like comprising areceiving and supporting means, a wedge member adapted to fit thereinto, the receiving means comprising a pair of relatively slidable blocks spaced apart and presenting adjacent relatively tapering surfaces transversely of .the door and having a latch receiving shoulder, a wedge element adapted tov fit between said slidablew blocks and separate them when the I door is closed, 'said wedge element being hollow and containing a movable latch member having a projection extending outwardly from the wedge element and engaging the shoulder on one ofthe slidable blocks, handles on the door, and connections between the handle and the latch for withdrawing the projection within the latch.

4. In an automobile door latching and supporting mechanism, the combination of a hollow wedge shaped member adapted to be mounted on the side of the door and carrying within it a latching element having a projection extending outwardly therefrom, a handle on the inside of the door and a handle on the outside of the door, connections between the handles and the latch for withdrawing it wi hin the element, a coacting supporting keeper comprising a pair (if-opposed relatively movable blocks having sloping sur;

faces presenting a/recess tapering transversely of the door and adapted to receive said wedge and be somewhat separated when the door is closed, one of said blocks having a shoulder adapted 'to coact with the latch projection where y when thedoor is closed relatively vertical movement between the keeper means and the wedge is permitted by movement of the blocks and wedge without any.

relative movement between the wedge and receiving surfaces. i

5. In a door supporting and latching means for automobile doors and the like comprising a housing means having a wedge shaped projection adapted to extend transversely of the door element, amovab le latch within the wedge shaped element and having a projection, a handle havinga shank extendinguthrou'gh the door adapted to rotate with turning of the handle anda connection between the shank and latch for moving it to withdr w the projection within the wedge, a pair of dpposed blocks and means for mountng them upon the door frame including a housing and guide for each block, and permitting movement of each block the blocks being sloped to present a transversely-tapering recess to receive said wedge and ositioned to be spread by the entrance the wedge whereby slight relative movement between the frame and door. causes the wedge and receiving blocks to move together, one

of the blocks having a shoulder'receiving the k latching, projection, and meansresiliently supporting the blocks and of suflicient (sitrength to afford material support for the oor.

' 6. A latch and supporting mechanism for automobile dooraand the like com rising a hollow wedge member adapted to aflixed to the door and havin therein a movable latchin element'provi ed witha projection protru goutwardly from one .of the-wedge surfaces, a handle' on the door having a reblocks secured in said housings and projecting therefrom and presenting relatively tapered surfaces adapted to embrace said wedge and be normally separated thereby when the door is in closed position, resilient means for urging each of the blocks toward the wedge, one of the blocks having spaced shoulders for engaging the latch projection when the door is in partially closed or in fully closed posi: tion, said wedge and blocks being capable of movement together consequent upon relative vertical movement between the door and frame.

7. The combination for use with a door frame member and a. door member hinged to swing laterally with respect to the frame member of a wedge shaped element secured on onevof saidmembers, awedge receiving element on the other member, one of said Wedge elements having a pair of oppositely disposed bodily movable means having contact surfaces complementary with respect to the surfaces on the other of'said elements and co-acting retractable latchin means carried by one of said elements and adapted to cooperate withsaid means in the zone of wedging action of said surfaces.

- 8. A combined locking and supporting device for a door frame member and a door a member hinged to swing laterally with relation to the frame member comprising a wedge shaped element on one of said members, a a

wedge receiving element on the other in her including relatively movable means arr nged with adjacent surfaces in spaced relation and sloped complementary to .thewedge surfaces of the wedge element, yieldable means urg; ing said first mentioned means into gripping engagement with said wedge shaped element, and retractable latching means carried within one of said elements and relatively movable with respect to the same and 'engageabla with the other of said elements in the zone of wedging-action of said surfaces.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

WILLIAM J. SEELINGER. 

